Tories to include more free childcare in election manifesto
More free childcare for one and two-year-olds from the poorest backgrounds will be included in the Scottish Conservatives' election manifesto, leader Ruth Davidson has said.
More free childcare for one and two-year-olds from the poorest backgrounds will be included in the Scottish Conservatives' election manifesto, leader Ruth Davidson has said.
Ms Davidson said the policy would help address inequality at an earlier stage than the Scottish Government's plans to double free childcare for all three and four-year-olds during the next parliament.
In a speech to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in London, she said: Given the gap that opens up among children from poor and wealthy homes before the age of three, we think action is required earlier.
So, in our manifesto for the Scottish election we will argue that instead of extending that provision across the board for three and four-year-olds, we should provide more high-quality childcare for more one and two-year-olds, starting with those in disadvantaged homes.
We also believe more funding will be required to train up a more highly-qualified professional workforce to carry out that childcare. As the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggests, there has to be a point to this childcare.
It has to be about offering proper early-years skills to children, developing literacy and numeracy, so that the gap that opens up at this young age is closed.''
Ms Davidson's speech, which focused on anti-poverty strategies, also repeated calls to introduce a graduate contribution to replace free university tuition.
She said the cost of the SNP policy has led to funding cuts for further education, with a reduction in places.
I would bring in a graduate contribution - no upfront fees and not anywhere near as high as here in England,'' she said.
I would use those funds to back bursaries for poorer students and I would reverse the SNP cuts on further education colleges.''
Ms Davidson also addressed pay inequality, backing consideration of proposals from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development for companies to ensure that reward packages are more aligned to financial and non-financial performance.
I don't really think people resent the fact that a chief executive gets paid well or is the highest earner in an organisation,'' she said.
I think they do resent it when they see CEOs cashing in hundreds of thousands in the bank no matter whether the company they run is going up in the markets or going down the pan.
I think they resent it when record bonuses are paid to the boardroom, when members of the workforce are laid off or facing a pay freeze.''